why do so many men send pictures of their penis?

A North American study details the motives behind this new kind of visual aggression sent to disagree recipients.

"When I get a dick (penis shot), I feel disgusted and surprised," Clementine explains, "and in one case I had such a rejection that I threw my phone across the room."

The most surprising thing, as a North American scientific study found, is that many men are convinced that this, regardless of them, excites their unwanted recipients. Leaving aside the consensual exchange of images during erotic games, the first thing to remember is that unwanted sending of these types of photos is prohibited by law in France.

"Unprecedented dykes may be in the continuum of sexual abuse," said Flora Oswald (University of Pennsylvania) and her Canadian psychology colleagues at the University of British Columbia and the Gwen Polytechnic University in a recent study. to be published in The Journal of Sex Research.

Very surprising motives

The researchers analyzed the responses of 1,087 men recruited by students, social networks and through an online survey system to try to understand the basics of this type of aggression. Half of them admitted that they had already sent unsolicited dips! The originality of the survey is mainly to ask the interviewed men, who range in age from 16 to 75 years (average 30-33 years), to answer questionnaires evaluating including their sexism and narcissism. Not surprisingly, men who send unsolicited dicks are more sexist and more narcissistic than the rest.

But the most amazing is the description of the motivators of the attackers (several possible answers for each interviewed person).

First, the belief that you can seduce a woman! One third did it "in the hope that the man would want to have sex" and half "in the hope of regaining the same image." One in every two senders does this to "excite the addressee" or "express their sexual attraction to someone". One in five offenders also believe that "this is a normal way of flirting" or that "sending enough people will ultimately respond favorably."

The expression is sometimes misogynistic

One in four does it because he is "proud of the appearance of (his) penis and wants to share it with others" or because "sending pictures of his penis excites him". One in ten because he "doesn't trust the appearance of his penis and hopes someone will respond positively to increase (his) self-esteem."

Some shippers (7%) "like the idea of ​​angering someone they are in conflict with" or "appreciate the power of forcing someone to look at (their) penis without their consent", and, 5% "Don't like feminism but send pictures in the penis is a way of punishing women who are trying to take power from men. "

The study's authors warn of a summary of their results obtained by volunteers who do not include the diversity of sexual orientations. They also believe that there is a lack of research into the experiences of those who are victims of this type of aggression.

What to do if you get this type of image? "Don't delete the image, keep it and go to the police station," advises lawyer Emmanuel Pierre, author of Sex and the Law (La Musardine, 2019). He points out that this is illegal in France: "We can even look at three possible qualifications: the distribution of pornographic messages, sexual exposure and cyber bullying," he explained to Le Figaro.